Rupee marches further to 81.92

Mumbai: The Indian rupee settled at a multi-week high of 81.92 levels on Monday despite negative news out of China. The domestic equity market too eventually ended higher after a choppy session. The rupee is further expected to stay in green zone as the RBI is expected to intervene on a regular basis to curb volatility as various global factors continue to keep the currency under pressure, said analysts. Except for the Chinese yuan, Asian currencies extended their second consecutive day gains.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee climbed 0.63 per cent to a session high of 81.92 per dollar, the highest since October 3. On the other hand, the Dollar Index showed major dollar weakness in the last two trading sessions as it is currently trading at 110.4, much lower than Friday's high of almost 113. The British pound and the euro are more than 2 per cent up from Friday's open.
On Friday, rupee was around 82.44 against the dollar. The Indian currency, which weakened by more than 10 per cent against the dollar year-to-date, has gained by 1.2 per cent just in the past two trading sessions.

In the equity market, indices extended their up-move with the Sensex breaching the 61,000 mark and Nifty 50 crossing 18,200 level.

Ritesh Bhansali, vice-president at Mecklai Financial Services, said the dollar traded lower against its peers as sentiments seem to have improved in the euro zone for the first time in the last three months, further reflecting the hopes that the recent warmer temperatures and falling energy prices will prevent gas rationing on the continent this winter.

On other hand, the likely economic impact of China's zero-Covid policy remains a factor to worry after Chinese trade figures showed exports and imports unexpectedly contracted in October, the first simultaneous slump since May 2020.

The benchmark 10-year bond is 3 basis points lower at 7.44 per cent, whereas, the benchmark one-year is 4 basis points higher at 6.94 per cent. The rise in short-term yield is primarily due to a liquidity crunch in the system.
The markets will be closed on Tuesday for Guru Nanak Jayanti.